At first he was bitter due to the thoughts of his family, then it became a haunting hopelessness. He had lost hope that he would ever be able to fulfill his dream, ever prove his father wrong in calling his irresponsible and impractical. Then he finally got his big break. He still remembered how the people had applauded. Their applause still rang in his ears even though it was a mere memory. His style of solving the cases had been marked "entrancing".
Now when he thought about it, he realized that he had been on the right track till that day. But after that day success had got to him. It messed with him and turned him to something not short of an animal. He became cold, calculative and arrogant. He met new people, both good and bad. Some people tried to advice him while some tried to take advantage of him. Fame did come with its advantages. He shuddered as the memories rushed towards him with alarming force. Trying to forget his past was not going to be easy. He was trying to put an end to the torture when he heard the radio jokey announce the name of the next song.
"Dekho chhodke kis raste vo jaate hain
Saare raste vaapas mere dil ko aate hain'"
He looked at the crowd. There were not many people there and he was not at all pleased with it. Everything was wrong. The lighting, the mike, the audience. Arjun suryakanth Rawate was in a bad mood. Everything seemed meaningless, a waste. Frustration made him consider stopping his interview. He tried to understand the reason for his frustration. That place was filled with lady reporters. Maybe that was it. He was just about to stop when he saw a girl enter the hall. She was with a girl whom he remembered seeing at his various interviews. A fan. But was this girl a fan too? There was admiration and a kind of fan worship in her eyes. He felt happy. He decided to continue his interview for the sake of observing her. Why did he want to observe her? He didn't know.
There was nothing extraordinary about her. Except she was the only one wearing a Salwaar Kammez among other girls who were wearing formal dresses. She obviously hadn't got the dress code. He didn't know if she was aware of all the stares she was getting from other girls and guys there. Her eyes were only for him and he enjoyed it. Who was this girl who had caught his attention like this? She was pretty but not extraordinarily so. Her bold fashion statement told him that she wasn't the type to worry about others thought .One thing they had in common. She seemed intelligent. Her eyes told him that. She wasn't covered with tons of powder and makeup. Natural .There was something overpowering about her. He felt drawn to her. Her face was soft and innocent too. He didn't understand what was happening to him. If not for the loud applause, he wouldn't have realized that his interview was over. She clapped too, her smile telling him that she had enjoyed his interview. He was glad.
He shot one more look at the disturbingly attractive girl and went backstage. There, a guy holding a clipboard asked him to choose a fan to meet him. At first, he hesitated. Would it be a good idea meeting her? Then he made up his mind and pointed at her through the curtain.
"Aah..Riya Mukherjee" he said ticking a name in his clipboard. He watched as he went towards her and said something. The girl's face lit up with excitement and she started saying something to her friend who looked slightly jealous of her. He smirked.
"Riya Mukherjee" Arjun repeated slowly.
Arjun staggered to his room. He needed a drink and fast. He met a waiter and asked him to bring a drink up to his room. He collapsed on the chair, feeling a headache coming his way. The waiter brought his drink to him. He took one glance at it and threw it on the waiter's face. He felt his familiar anger resurface. He then got up and held the waiter's collar.
"Why is there no ice in my drink?!"He roared.
The waiter looked at him with wide eyes, clearly terrified.
"What's with the bad service here?!I am going to make your reputation go down the drain you heard me? Go and call your Manager dammit".
The waiter nodded and scurried to the door. Arjun's hazy eyes followed him, coming to a stop on that girl who had probably heard and seen everything that just happened. To his shock her eyes were filled with tears.. before he could say something she turned around and ran.
He didn't know why he did it. But he followed her desperate to talk to her. He caught up with her and grabbed her by the shoulders causing her to turn around. She cringed, uncomfortable, being this close to him. He moved back a bit but didn't loosen his hold on her shoulders. He looked at her face. The tear filled eyes, shock and hurt had been replaced with disgust.
"Leave me!"she struggled.
"Not until you tell me why you left so suddenly. And you have to tell me why why you are crying..."
She looked up at him with blazing eyes.
"Its not just me Mr.Arjun suryakanth Rawate. I'm sure anyone who admired you would be feeling the same way. Somewhere in between the mad race you lost your character. You are no longer what you stood for in the beginning."
He loosened his hold on her and let her slip away from him. He could see the pity and disappointment in her eyes. He had heard the same thing from people. But all of them, he knew well. But this girl. She was walking away from him.
"And who are you to say this?"he asked, his voice dangerously low.
"A fan" she said. "A fan who has just realized that her favorite nd sincere cop is not such a cop in realit. He is just, just one more man."
He had been shaken. The girl was just one among a thousand fans who would be disappointed when they know that their hero was a sick person in real life. If just one incident had made the girl react like this then what about his family? What would they think? For the first time since a very long time he asked himself-'Am I happy?'
The answer was a plain no. He promised himself that he would correct his mistakes. It was going to be a difficult task but he was ready to do it. The thought of the girl gave him strength to go through the upcoming days.
"Arjun,close the window bhai. It is raining".
Arjun snapped out of his thoughts and glanced outside. It was raining. He turned around to look at the source of distraction. He smiled at his brother who in turn grinned at him. Needless to say his brother, karan suryakanth Rawate, famous business man had been very orried about him. He had even fought with karan over the phone once when he blamed Arjun for being out of control.
But a few days ago he finally called up karan and apologized. Karan had accepted his apology and pleaded to Arjun to come back and his father had forgiven him. That was why he was on the way to his home now. He was correcting the mistake he had done to his family and brother. At first he had been apprehensive about leaving London because of the girl. But he came to find out from her friend that she went back to mumbai too. Mumbai to be exact.
"Nahin saamne
Nahin saamne ye alag baat hai
Nahin saamne ye alag baat hai
Mere paas hai
Mere paas hai tu mere paas hai"
There was nothing holding him back then.
He leant forward to pull up the glass to prevent getting soaked. His Bhai whistled a merry tune. Arjun grinned. Someone was definitely happy.
"So how's vahini?"he asked.
To his astonishment he saw his brother's cheeks turning red. He smiled in his usual shy sort of way.
"Bhai you are blushing! Lemme guess she's soo beautiful right?" he said not leaving any chance to pull karan's leg.
But instead he turned serious."How would you know Arjun? You didn't even come for the wedding" he said.
Arjun mentally kicked himself. He had been a complete freak. He hasn't even seen his ownvahini. He wanted to come for the wedding but he needed some time to sort things out. It had been the phase of his life where he was trying to get back on track. If he had come back he wasn't sure if he would have been able to do that.
"Bhai im so sor..."
"No its ok Arjun" karan cut him off. "You picked a great day to come. It is our first wedding anniversary" he said, the red colour sneaking up again.
Arjun laughed, feeling the tension dissolve. Love was just..he didn't know how to explain it in words. He knew he was in love. But he had never thought it possible to love someone whom you have only seen once? But that one meeting had changed him so much.
"Aah..hence the blush. Got any plans?"he asked suggestively.
"No yaar, just a quiet day with family. Me, you, Simran, Riya, Maa.."
His bhai continued with names which were familiar to him. Then he started talking about the plans that their Bua had made for the party celebrating his return. But Arjun interrupted him.
"Yeh Riya kaun he?"
This is the first shot next one will b soon nd I'm so sorry for not replying nd liking to any other stories I'm a bit busy with my work schedule soon I will comment on each nd every story once again wish u a belated happy birthday to you Akka stay blessed with ur family happy nd healthy.
Next part : https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/127187581
last part :https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/4474255?pn=12
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